''Teen Wolf'', known as ''The Cartoon Adventures of Teen Wolf'' in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, is an animated television series broadcast from

1986 The year 1986 was designated as the International Year of Peace by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** Aruba gains increased autonomy from the Netherlands by separating from the Netherlands Antilles. **Spain and Portugal ente ...

1987 File:1987 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsizes after leaving the Port of Zeebrugge in Belgium, killing 193; Northwest Airlines Flight 255 crashes after takeoff from Detroit Metropolitan Airport, k ...

that was produced by Southern Star/Hanna-Barbera Australia in association with Clubhouse Pictures in the first season and

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

/ Kushner-Locke in the second season. It was based on the 1985 live-action film, ''

Teen Wolf ''Teen Wolf'' is a 1985 American coming-of-age romantic fantasy comedy film directed by Rod Daniel and written by Jeph Loeb and Matthew Weisman. Michael J. Fox stars as the title character, a high school student whose ordinary life is changed ...

''.

Summary

The series is about a teenage boy and his family who can transform into

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

, focusing on themes of

coming of age Coming of age is a young person's transition from being a child to being an adult. The specific age at which this transition takes place varies between societies, as does the nature of the change. It can be a simple legal convention or can b ...

and fitting in. While generally keeping true to the main ideas, this version made some changes from the film. Scott Howard and his family now live in the fictional town of Wolverton, a small town constantly drawing tourists because of its history of werewolf sightings. (In the film the town was called 'Beacontown'.) Scott was an only child who lived with his father in the film, the cartoon gave him a little sister and grandparents. Despite the youth audience, the cartoon series delivered very powerful critiques of

disability Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, dev ...

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. Freely invoking an

asthma attack Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, cou ...

seizure An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much of the body with los ...

, the series centered on how Scott felt "weird" immediately before and during his werewolf transformation. Although he never hurt anybody while he was a werewolf, Scott was conscious of his difference from other teenagers and had to make accommodations for himself. He also expressed frustration that the residents of this town had stereotyped "his people". Boof's father Mayor Marconi is a semi-antagonist to the Howard family in the cartoon and is unaware his daughter is in love with a werewolf. But he never appears in the earlier live-action film. A jock named Mick who now also attends Wolverton High constantly picks on Scott for being the "outsider". Mick attended a different high school in the film. Pamela is a cheerleader in the cartoon while in the film she really did not show much school spirt.

Characters

* Scott Howard (voiced by Townsend Coleman), the main protagonist; he constantly chases local cheerleader and popular girl Pam, while being thwarted by Pam's boyfriend Mick McAllister, a mean jock. Scott spends much of his time worrying about social acceptance and the possibility of people finding out he's a werewolf. Unlike the movie, Scott is not on a sports team but still wears a letterman jacket. * Harold Howard (voiced by James Hampton, the only actor that reprised his role from the live-action film), Scott's widower father; a laid-back hardware store owner, generally uninterested in the social problems of his son. He seldom transforms. * Lupe Howard (voiced by

Sherry Lynn Sherry Lynn is an American voice actress who has played roles in anime, animated television series and video games. She portrayed Sasami Jurai in the ''Tenchi Muyo!'' franchise. In January 2010, in terms of total film gross, she was the Highest ...

), Scott's younger sister is one of the new characters added for the animated series. She is not old enough to know whether she is a werewolf or not, but she desperately wants to be one. In one episode, she is able to transform because of a magic spell, but since the spell turns anyone into a werewolf temporarily, she still does not know her true status. * Grandpa Howard (voiced by

Stacy Keach Sr. Walter Stacy Keach Sr. (May 29, 1914 – February 13, 2003), known professionally as Stacy Keach Sr. was an American actor whose screen career spanned more than five decades. Biography Keach was born in Chicago, Illinois. He was of English desc ...

), Scott's grandfather is an immigrant from

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

. He spends most of his time in his werewolf form, only assuming a completely human appearance when he must. He is a constant source of embarrassment to Scott, because he is always running around on all fours, chasing cats, and getting into trouble with the neighbors. He is another new character added for the cartoon. * Grandma Howard (voiced by June Foray), Scott's grandmother; also from Transylvania and, like Grandpa, she stays in werewolf form most of the time. She is not as embarrassing to Scott because she is better behaved than Grandpa. She becomes Scott's ally in his attempts to keep Grandpa's behavior under control. She is sometimes represented as a fortune teller similar to a

stereotypical In social psychology, a stereotype is a generalized belief about a particular category of people. It is an expectation that people might have about every person of a particular group. The type of expectation can vary; it can be, for example ...

Gypsy The Romani (also spelled Romany or Rromani , ), colloquially known as the Roma, are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group, traditionally nomadic itinerants. They live in Europe and Anatolia, and have diaspora populations located worldwide, with sign ...

, and has sometimes performed other magic, such as brewing potions, making her seem similar to a

witch Witchcraft traditionally means the use of Magic (supernatural), magic or supernatural powers to harm others. A practitioner is a witch. In Middle Ages, medieval and early modern Europe, where the term originated, accused witches were usually ...

in some ways. She is another new character added for the cartoon. * Rupert "Stiles" Stilinski (voiced by

Don Most Don Most (born August 8, 1953) is an American actor and singer, best known for his role as Ralph Malph on the television series ''Happy Days''. Early life Most was born to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York City. He lived in Flatbush, Brook ...

), Scott's best friend; in on the werewolf secret, Stiles is supportive but often gets under-appreciated in Scott's quest to be "in" with the cool crowd. Like Lupe, he wishes to be a werewolf and is upset that Scott doesn't appreciate the "gift". * Chubs (voiced by Will Ryan) Another friend of Scott's; who is in on the werewolf secret. Chubs is more trustworthy than Styles and says much less. Unlike the film version he is not on any sports team but still loves to eat. * Lisa "Boof" Marconi (voiced by Jeannie Elias), a friend of Scott's, and is also in on his family's werewolf secret alongside Stiles. She is romantically interested in him, but he seems oblivious of this, chasing after Pam instead. *Mayor Marconi (voiced by

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

and

Kenneth Mars Kenneth Mars (April 4, 1935 – February 12, 2011) was an American actor. He appeared in two Mel Brooks films: as the deranged Nazi playwright Franz Liebkind in '' The Producers'' (1967) and Police Inspector Hans Wilhelm Friedrich Kemp in ''Young ...

) Boof's father and the Wolverton mayor, oblivious to the Howards, not a 'mean' person but occasionally gets tricked into supporting dangerous things which would hurt his constituents. He was added for the cartoon and had not appeared in the movie. * Pamela Wells (voiced by Ellen Gerstell), the most popular girl in Wolverton High and serving as a cheerleader, she is Scott's romantic interest. She is the girlfriend of Mick McAllister, who sometimes thwarts Scott and picks on him for being an outsider. Pam is unaware that Scott is a werewolf like his family before him, like everybody in Wolverton who doesn't know the Howard family's secret. * Mick McAllister (voiced by Craig Sheffer), a mean jock at Wolverton High, he is the boyfriend of Pamela Wells who thwarts Scott and picks on him for being an outsider in Wolverton. Mick, like Pam and everybody else in town, is unaware that Scott and his family are werewolves. * Mrs. Seslick (voiced by June Foray), the Howard family's nosy neighbor who is always a step away from figuring out the family's secret and outing them to the community. She is the last new character added just for the cartoon.

Cast

* Sheryl Bernstein as Frieda the Housekeeper * Townsend Coleman as Scott Howard * Brian Cummings * Jeannie Elias as Lisa "Boof" Marconi * June Foray as Grandma Howard, Mrs. Seslick * Ellen Gerstell - Pamela Wells * James Hampton as Harold Howard * Stacy Keach, Sr. as Grandpa Howard *

as Mayor Marconi (first voice) * Mona Marshall *

as Stiles * Will Ryan as Chubs * Craig Sheffer as Mick McAllister *

as Valor, Daisy, Mayor Marconi (second voice)

History

Although the cartoon series ran for three years, the third year was entirely

rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the word ...

s. The main character dressed in similar clothing to the cartoon Scott Howard, the "wolfman" design was nearly identical, and the quests to hide the secret and fit in at high school are features of the cartoon and not the film.

Episodes

Season 1 (1986)

Season 2 (1987)

Home media

Video releases

United Kingdom

United States

DVD releases

In 2017,

Shout! Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

was set to release the entire ''Teen Wolf'' animated series on

DVD-Video DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs. DVD-Video was the dominant consumer home video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia in the 2000s until it was supplanted by the high-definition Blu-r ...

in Region 1 for the very first time in September of that year. However, on 29 June 2017 Shout! Factory announced via Twitter that the release was delayed pending the resolution of a previously unforeseen legal issue.

References

External links

* * {{Children's programming on CBS in the 1980s Teen Wolf 1986 American television series debuts 1987 American television series endings 1980s American animated television series 1986 Australian television series debuts 1987 Australian television series endings American animated television spin-offs Australian television spin-offs CBS original programming Television series by Endemol Australia Television series by Hanna-Barbera Animated television shows based on films Television series about shapeshifting Television series about werewolves American children's animated adventure television series American children's animated fantasy television series American children's animated horror television series American children's animated supernatural television series Australian children's animated adventure television series Australian children's animated fantasy television series Australian children's animated horror television series English-language television shows Teen animated television series